


Crossing a Line

by danceswithronin



Category: Ghost of Tsushima (Video Game)
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, F/M, Gentle Kissing, I think this counts as fluff?, Light Angst, Mad uncledad, Missing Scene, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Star-crossed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceswithronin/pseuds/danceswithronin
Summary: Jin and Yuna take comfort in each other's company the night before the battle to retake Castle Shimura. Lord Shimura reminds Jin of his responsibilities and gives him an ultimatum.
Relationships: Jin Sakai/Yuna
Comments: 26
Kudos: 100





	Crossing a Line

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whitedove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitedove/gifts).



> Another prompt fic! <3 This prompt was to write a scene where Lord Shimura discovers Jin and Yuna the morning after they drink together before retaking Castle Shimura. 
> 
> This one was inspired by "Crossing a Line" by Mike Shinoda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2sRc3j7IU0
> 
> If anybody has any requests for prompts or pairings or whatever, leave 'em in the comments and I'll do my best to eventually get around to all of them. :D 
> 
> _It's not about status  
>  We know it never was  
> 'Cause what good is the kingdom  
> When you're missing the love?_

“Are you happy to see your uncle?”

Jin tipped back the gourd of sake in his hand, feeling the sweet searing warm run down the back of his throat, warming his stomach. They were on their third one apiece, and Jin thought about telling Yuna that they ought to stop and try to get some sleep. They needed all of their strength to storm the castle and take it back from the Mongols.

He looked over at Yuna where she was watching him in the moonlight that slanted in on the watchtower floor, then looked past her at the sprawl of stars overhead. The night was deceptively peaceful.

“Of course. I never thought I’d see him alive again.” But even as he said it, his uncle’s words rang in the back of his mind. _I heard of your exploits._

“You made a face just now.”

Jin tilted his head back and then cut his eyes over at her. “He’s… disappointed.”

“About which thing, you saving his life or saving the lives of half the people on the island on your way?” Yuna replied.

Jin scowled at the tone in her voice, then he sighed, his face softening as he brought the gourd to his lips again. “You don’t understand. He hasn’t seen what it’s like out there, he’s been in prison this whole time. He doesn’t know what they’ve been doing to our people. What they did to Taka,” he added, then tipped the gourd.

“He doesn’t care,” Yuna said, shifting to sit closer to Jin until their shoulders were touching. She leaned against his shoulder, sipping her sake, and Jin closed his eyes at the feel of her warm weight along the line of his body. “As long as he gets his castle back, he doesn’t care who has to die.”

Jin was silent. He couldn’t contradict her.

“He doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

“He’s not used to women talking back to him,” Jin replied quietly. “He is the jito.”

“And how do you feel about it?” Yuna said, poking him with one elbow.

He put his arm around her shoulders. She stiffened for a moment, then softened under his arm, leaning in closer. With all the other samurai far below the watchtower, it felt like they were alone in a nest at the top of a tall tree. The tower swayed gently in the hard autumn wind, the wood creaking.

“I like it,” he said.

Then were quiet for a few moments, just drinking their sake. Jin was reminded of when they had drunk together before Yarikawa, wondering whether they would survive the next day or not. Somehow this felt different, more serious. Castle Shimura was well fortified, a fortress compared to Yarikawa. And this time it was they who were trying to get in, not the Mongols.

“What are you going to do after all of this?” Yuna asked. She snuggled up next to him and Jin couldn’t help but feel a faint smile rise to his face.

“I don’t know,” Jin said. He didn’t want to tell her that his uncle had begun to seek out marriage matches for him among the mainland families, someone whose alliances laid closer to court. “What are you going to do?”

“With Taka gone, I… I don’t know either.”

“Whatever happens, if we survive this, you won’t be alone,” Jin said quietly, turning to whisper into Yuna’s hair. “I promise that. I won’t leave you.”

“Jin…” Yuna sighed, pulling away from him to look into his face. “I care about you. But you have a life still, from before all this. Your uncle is alive, the rest of the samurai are here now. I don’t want you to throw all that away.”

“I’m not,” Jin said. He set his gourd of sake down and took Yuna’s hand, looking down at it before looking back up into her eyes. “But I’m not throwing you away for that.”

Yuna searched his face a moment, then leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. She held still a moment, then leaned in and kissed Jin gently, just a brushing of lips. She pulled back and laid across his lap, folding arm under her head and closing her eyes.

“Thank you, Jin,” she whispered. 

Jin rested his arm across her shoulders and stroked her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ears.

“I won’t leave you, Yuna.”

She didn’t answer him. Her breathing had slowed and deepened.

Jin rested his elbow on his knee, rested his head on his palm, and closed his eyes.

**

“Has anyone seen Lord Sakai?”

Lord Shimura approached one of the samurai polishing his swords around a campfire in the camp, and the soldier lifted up his head. “My lord, I believe he is in the watchtower on the northern side of camp.”

Lord Shimura scowled slightly. “Thank you.”

He walked across the camp until he reached the base of the watchtower, but when he looked up he didn’t see anyone standing in it. He climbed up, feeling the cool dawn wind cut through his robes.

When he reached the top of the watchtower, his eyes widened.

Jin was propped up in the corner of the watchtower floor, his head bowed and rocking softly with each breath he took. The peasant woman that Jin had arranged for transport to the mainland was lying across his lap. One of her hands was stretched out to Jin’s, their fingers lightly intertwined.

Sake gourds were littered around the two of them. Shimura scowled and cleared his throat.

“Hmph.”

The two warriors didn’t stir.

_“Hm-hmph.”_

Jin opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was his uncle glowering down at him. The second thing he noticed was Yuna sprawled across his lap, her hand in his. He withdrew it quickly, shaking her to wake her up.

“Good morning, Uncle.”

“So it seems,” Lord Shimura said, his voice flat.

Yuna moaned a little in her sleep and wrapped her arms around Jin’s waist, burying her face in his stomach. “Mm, go back to sleep,” she murmured. “It’s so early.”

“Yuna, get _up.”_

She lifted her head and turned, blinking, then jerked when she saw Shimura looming over them. She pulled away from Jin, sitting up. “My lord,” she said. She and Jin both stood up, bowing stiffly with the sake gourds around their feet.

“My lady. Good morning. I would like to speak to Lord Sakai in private, if I might.”

Yuna glanced at Jin, then nodded. “Of course. I’ll see you later, Jin.” She climbed down the watchtower ladder.

There was a tense silence between Jin and Lord Shimura until they watched Yuna walking across the yard of the camp, and then Lord Shimura turned to scowl at Jin.

“Jin, what do you think you’re doing? Do you really think getting drunk with that woman the night before a battle is wise?” He shook his head. “I’m worried about you. About the… influence this woman has had on you in my absence.”

Jin swallowed. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh?” Lord Shimura said, his voice quiet and sharp. “Do you know what it looks like to these other samurai to see you gallivanting around with some peasant woman? It is up to us to convince Oga and the others that we still have things under control here. How am I supposed to set you up a suitable marriage if there are whispers in Kyoto that you take fishwives to bed? There is already talk about how you have not married yet at your age.”

Jin bristled. “Yuna is not a _fishwife._ She is one of the finest warriors on this island. She saved my life and helped save yours.”

“And we are _grateful,”_ Lord Shimura said, and Jin could hear that he was trying to keep his voice gentle. “But gratitude should be the extent of it. Your liaisons with this woman are inappropriate for your station. You know this, I should not have to be telling you this at your age, Jin. I thought you were smart enough that we would never have to have this conversation. But first that masterless dog Ryuzo, and now this—”

He took Jin’s shoulders, looking into his face. “You are the heir to the jito _._ You must know your place. I know that it’s hard, Jin. But it’s your responsibility. You still know that, don’t you?”

Jin scowled. “Yes, Uncle. But Yuna saved my life. I owe her a life debt.” _And I care about her._

“And you will pay it,” Lord Shimura said. “By paying her way to the mainland, by sending her to safety and a new life.” He smiled, squeezing Jin’s shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. “Don’t worry, Jin. We will make sure that she can start over in whatever life she pleases. She saved you, my son, and I will not forget it.”

“Her brother is dead. She’s all alone.”

“But she cannot stay. Not with you,” Lord Shimura replied, softly but firmly. He took his hands off Jin’s shoulders. “You should ready yourself for battle,” he said. “Put the woman out of your mind. You are samurai. You have more important concerns at hand.”

“Yes, Uncle.” Jin bowed his head slightly, his eyes on the wooden platform of the watchtower.

“Then come. I’m not trying to be harsh with you. But now is the time for us to focus on retaking Tsushima and bringing it back under control of the shogunate. That is our task, in the service of our lord. Meet me at the northern encampment when you are ready.” Lord Shimura climbed back down the ladder, meeting Jin’s eyes once more before he went down.

Jin swallowed, then let out a sigh and followed his uncle down. But instead of continuing to follow his uncle when he reached the ground, he headed in the opposite direction instead, the direction Yuna had walked. Lord Shimura watched him go a moment, then shook his head and turned his back.

**

“Yuna.”

Yuna looked up from where she was whittling an arrow shaft out of bamboo with her dagger as she sat cross-legged against the fortified wall of Shimura’s camp, raising her eyebrows at him. “That bad, huh?” she said as she held up the arrow shaft to eye level and looked down it, gauging how straight it was.

“What do you mean?”

“Your face,” she said, looking from the arrow shaft to Jin. “You look like you swallowed a frog. I take it your uncle wasn’t thrilled about our little party last night.”

“That’s an understatement.” Jin tried to make his reply a joke but couldn’t keep a note of glumness out of his tone.

She put the half-finished arrow shaft in her quiver and Jin held a hand down to her. She took it and he helped her to her feet. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice quiet. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. I hope I didn’t cause you to lose face.”

Jin shook his head. “It’s not your fault.” _We drank too much,_ he wanted to say, to wave off the night before. But he knew that the sake wasn’t the reason that he felt the way he did when he was around Yuna. It just gave him the courage to treat her like he wanted to treat her all the time. But she was so bold and fierce, and he respected her so much. It was hard to get up the nerve to show her how he felt.

“That’s what I was talking about, Jin. Last night. Your uncle… he’s never going to like a woman like me,” she said. She tried to shrug like it didn’t matter to her, but Jin saw a hurt look flash across her face. Not bothering to look around to see whether any of the other samurai or his uncle was watching, Jin wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, one hand between her shoulders and the other on the back of her neck.

“I don’t care about that,” he whispered in her ear. “He doesn’t have to. But I do. And I meant what I said.”

Yuna closed her eyes, then hugged him back.


End file.
